Triumph Sets the Bar With Aggressive Approach in 2011 Hot

Worried about the motorcycle industry? Go talk to the guys over at Triumph Motorcycles, they'll cheer you up.

Triumph Motorcycles added 7 motorcycles to its lineup this year, the biggest addition in its history. (Considering that Triumph has been around for more than 100 years, that's pretty impressive.) But the number of motorcycles isn't the only thing that's impressive about the lineup, the motorcycles, for lack of a better term, kick ass.

Triumph is taking an aggressive approach in 2011, and they are moving in quickly on the US Market. But with motorcycle sales still struggling across the board, some might say an aggressive approach isn't the smartest plan.

But Triumph is all about the future, and not the past.

"You can sit and worry about the past," said Greg Heichelbech, CEO of Triumph North America. "But Triumph is looking toward the future. We've got an aggressive lineup, a quality lineup, and I think our customers appreciate that. They don't want to see the same thing they saw last year."

At Daytona Bike Week this year, people were lined up around the clock to demo Triumph's new lineup. Triumph had new motorcycles like the Tiger XC and the Thunderbird Storm, but they also had a few classics like the Bonneville or the Scrambler.

But more importantly, Triumph had regional managers from all over the country, as well as CEO Heichelbech, on hand to talk to customers. It isn't often that Joe Schmoe gets to shake hands with the CEO of a motorcycle company, give their opinion on a motorcycle, and actually be listened to.

"We've been booked all day," Heichelbech said. "People are responding really well to the new lineup, especially these two motorcycles. The Tiger XC and the Thunderbird Storm. Everyone seems to really love these two bikes."

Triumph's presence in the US market continues to build, but with the Daytona 200 happening just a few hundred feet from where we stood, it seemed strange that Triumph wasn't fighting for race wins.

"It takes a lot of effort to run a race team," Heichelbech said. "We do a lot of racing in Europe, and as our presence in America continues to grow, so will our racing efforts. The Daytona 675R is a fantastic race bike. And who knows, there could be a few more Triumphs racing in the AMA in the next couple of years."

Triumph Motorcycles is one of few manufacturers to come out of the economic recession unscathed. To me, the reason is simple. The people over at the Triumph tent didn't talk in bullet points. They didn't have pre-prepared answers and they didn't use spec sheets as cue cards.

They stood back and admired their machines. There really wasn't anything else to say.